Chin-Up War Week 4. Day C.

sRPE @8

BW - 226

Chins - BWX2, 2, 2 @6.5/7

Pull-Downs - X17, 12, 10, 9 @10

Copenhagen Planks - BWX21, 14 @10

Dips - 

-    up to BW+70X2 @10

-    BW+45X5, 5 @9/9.5

Bayesian Curls - X14, 9 @~10

Ok session.  Starting to get some nagging shoulder discomfort outside the gym.  I'll see how this week goes, and then maybe do a slight deload and/or pivot to some different movements.

Higher-Rep Volume PRs. Week 1. Session A.

sRPE @6

BW - 219

Squats - 

315X1 @5.5

185X17 @5.5

Press - 

110X1 @7

75X13 @7

Push Press - 120X4, 4 @~7

Rower - HIIT; 7 rounds / 12 minutes

Intro week.  Just one set per rep range on the mains to feel things out.  

Squats were much stronger than usual following a deload/pivot.  I did some extra warm-ups sets with BW and empty bar.   Also maybe the ME work on Saturday maybe?

Left shoulder was a little aggravated after the back-off set on Press, but Push Press was OK and it feels mostly fine the next day.

BBM Peaking Block. Cycle 4. Session B.

sRPE @8

BW - 214

Bench - 

225X1 @7

240X1 @8.5

225X2 @7.5

215X2, 2, 2, 2 @~6/7

Pause Squat - up to 315X1 @7

Plate Deficit DL - up to 355X2 @6

Cambered Bar Bench - 

up to 205X1 @~9

155X4, 4 @5.5

215+ for 5 sets of 2 is a Volume PR on Bench.  Bench technique is really clicking in.

Mixed things up a bit after bench today.  Because I'd cut Deficits from the previous session because of the gym closing, and because Squatting is still bothering my shoulder, I only worked up to a single on Pause Squats and then worked up to one set of the programmed back-off sets on Deficits.

Because I'm enjoying the way bench technique is feeling, I decided to work up to a heavy single on the Cambered Bar to see how that would feel.  Felt great. 

Ended up dropping Machine Flyes.  Was ready to go home.

BBM Peaking Block. Cycle 3. Session A

sRPE @8.5

BW - 212

Squat - 

335X1 @7

350X1 @8

325X2 @7

305X2, 2, 2, 2 @5.5/7

CG Bench - 

205X1 @~7

195X2, 2, 2, 2 @5

Plate Deficit DL - 

365X3 @7.5

345X2, 2  @~6

Back-Glute-Ham-Raise - BWX14, 14, 14 @6.5/7

Stationary Bike - LISS; 20 minutes

Aggravated my shoulder somehow on squat warm-ups.  Made the whole session a slog.  Mostly just stayed at the same weights as last week.

Block 12. Cycle 1. Session A.

 BW - 231

Waist - 43.5"

BB Curls - 

62.5X11 @7

65X11, 11 @~8

Press - 97.5X7, 7, 7 @8

Squat -

345X1 @7.5

295X4, 4 @6

BB Preacher Curls - 52.5X12, 12 @8/9

62.5+ for 3X11 on BB Curls is a Volume PR.  NBD, because I designed the rep ranges for Curls and Press this block to grab some low-hanging Volume PRs.  Also, I took the trouble to weight the straight bar I've been using and discovered it's a ~30 lb. bar, and I thought it was ~20 lbs.  

As above, 97.5 for 3X7 is a Volume PR on Press.  Weight came in lower than I was targeting to start this block, but I've got a bit of discomfort in my right shoulder that seemed to come up doing tempo presses in the pivot.  Food for thought.

Squat went well.  345 is the heaviest weight I've used since the pandemic started and it moved nicely.

Block 8. Cycle 3. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 42.75"

sRPE @7

Chin-Ups -
BW+15X3, 2, 3, 2 @~10
BWX4 @9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rests) - BWX8, 3, 3, 3, 2 @~10

Dips - BWX12, 8 @~8

Rope Pushdowns - X20 @10

BB Curls - 67.5X8, 8, 8 @7.5/10



Solid session. 

Chin strength seemed to tick back up a bit after a bit of a dip on the last BW-only session, however Rack Chins dipped a bit.

Dips surged forward.  That inflammation in my trap from the first Dips session continues to recede.  That combined with getting re-acclimated to the movement is probably just allowing me to more fully display the strength that was there.  Nice to be getting into the groove with these. 

Curls ticked up a bit as well.

Block 8. Cycle 2. Session D.

BW - 227

Waist - 43"

Chin-Ups -
BW+10X3, 3, 3, 3 @~10
BWX4 @10

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps; 30 sec. rest) - BWX9, 3, 3, 3, 2 @9/10

Dips - BWX8, 7 @~8

Rope Pushdowns - X18@10

Curls - 62.5X8, 8, 8 @7/9.75

Solid session.  Everything ticked up a bit except for Dips.

Dips sometimes really bother something in my right trap area.  That was the case last week.  Still lingering discomfort coming into this session.  I decided to ditch the extra weight and just work with BW.  On my warm-up set, the pain flared up a little bit, but seemed to actually fade a bit during the work sets.

I added a set of rope pushdowns to get some extra triceps volume since the volume and load on dips are lower than I'd expected coming into this block.

Block 8. Cycle 1. Session D.

BW - 225

Waist - 42.75"

Chin-Ups -
BW+10X3, 3, 3, 2 @~9.5
BWX3 @9.5

Rack Chins (Myo-Reps / 30 sec. rest) - BWX8, 3, 3, 1 @~9.5

Dips -
BW+15X8 @8
BWX8 @8.5

Curls - 60X8, 8, 8 @7.5/9.5

Okay session.

Chin-ups felt fairly smooth for so low reps.  Saying that feels like deja vu. 

Rack chins were tougher for the myo-reps than either leg press or GHR.  Combo of the set-up being more awkward, and just being weak in vertical pull movement patterns, I guess.  Still, it sort of reinforces the idea that these are more specific to chins that pull-downs.

Dips weren't feeling great up around my collar-bone on this day.  Sometimes they give me some discomfort there.  I don't think that's the main reason for the surprisingly poor performance on the BW back-off set, but it probably contributed.  No where to go but up!

Only took video of the dips.  I'm allergic to videoing my chins for some reason.  Probably need to commit to that.

Transmutation to Accumulation Pivot Day 3.

BW - 222

Squat -
250X4 @6
282.5X4, 4, @7, 7.5

1-Leg Leg Press - 160X8 @7

Bench-Grip Press -
85X5 @6.5
90X7, 7 @7, 7.5

Dips - BWX9 @7

Pull-Downs - X14, 13 (straight-weight)

DB Curls -
30sX6
25sX8

Quads are finally starting to feel a bit better.  Seems like time and/or these pivot workouts are allowing the issue to dissipate.  Still trouble enough to limit my squatting and leg pressing today (left hip didn't love the single-leg press), but felt MUCH better than the past several weeks.

Bench-Grip press again today to slot it into the "regular" OHP slot I had planned for this pivot block.  Felt good.  Getting the unrack and starting position more dialed-in.

I wanted to make sure I got good depth on Dips, and so did not push reps at all in order to protect my shoulder.  My best is 22.  This was X9 at a very conservative @7.  Just "dipping" my toe back in the water.

Pull-Downs and Curls.  Yeah.

Greyskull LP. Session 14

BW - 231

Bench - 200X5, 5, 10

Chin-Ups -
BW+25X4, 4
BWX10, 5

Deadlift - 345X6

Dips - BW+30X11, 6

200X10 is a cool little Rep PR on Bench.  Felt confident it would be there, and was probably RPE 8.5.  Nice milestone I didn't even really know I was looking for. 

Chin-Ups went okay.  I'm going on a little trip this weekend, and I think I may reset chins and dips when I come back and try to get them all stricter.  More on the dips below.  Video is 2nd weighted set, and first BW set.  Angle sucks, and was way off-center on the BW set.

345X6 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.  Only needed 5 for a PR.  About RPE 9.  Felt pretty good today.

Dips were much harder today for some reason.  I wish I'd gotten video, because I suspect I was going way deeper than usual. Shoulder may be in good shape for deeper dips now.  I will take a little weight off, and reset using a plan I've been hatching for a chin-ups reset that takes total weight into account.  Will be better about getting video, and holding myself to a stricter, fuller range of motion on both movements.

Greyskull LP. Session 10

BW - 228

Bench - 195X5, 5, 10

Chin-Ups -
BW+22.5X3, 3
BWX10, 6

Deadlift - 325X8

Dips - BW+30X10, 10, 10

195X10 on Bench is a Rep PR.  Checking video of the first work set, I noticed my right leg was caving in on the leg drive.  Sorted that out on the final two work sets.  The new video angle is paying dividends so far.  This was probably RPE 8.5.

Chin-ups were okay.  BW sets felt much better than the weighted sets.

325X8 is a Rep PR on Deadlift.  RPE 8, but only needed 7 reps for a PR.

258 (BW+30)X10 is a Rep PR on Dips.  These are feeling pretty good.  Still wish my shoulder felt stable enough to go below parallel on these.  3rd set shown.

Greyskull LP. Session 8

BW - 228

Bench - 192.5X5, 5, 10

Chin-Ups -
BW+20X4, 4
BWX10, 5

Deadlift - 315X8

Dips - BW+30X9, 9, 9

192.5X10 is a Rep PR on Bench.  Felt pretty good.  Getting better centered on the bench thanks to the new camera angle.  RPE 9.

Weighted chins felt okay.  10 reps on the back-off set at this bodyweight matches a Rep PR.

315X8 is a Rep PR on Dealift.  These felt pretty good.  Only needed 7 for a PR, but was feeling 8 going into it.  RPE 8 or 8.5 max.  Still feeling limited more by fatigue than strength.

258 (BW+30)X9 is a Rep PR on Dips.  According to my records, it's actually my "heaviest" (counting BW) dips weight ever.  Kind of surprised me.  I'd like to be able to go a little deeper on these, but I have to be careful because my shoulders get cranky.  I go till I get a stretch but no further.

Novice LP. Session 65 (Greyskull Squats and Press)

BW - 227.2

Bench -
237.5X2
215X5, 5

Deadlift -
385X3
345X3

Chin-Ups-
BW+20X4, 4
BWX8, 5

Dips -
BW+25X12, 12
BWX15

237.5X2 is an all around PR on bench.  Mis-grooved the first rep, and failed on the 3rd.  A PR is a PR, though.  2nd back-off set in the video.  These are still moving okay.

385X3 is an all-around PR on Deadlift.  Finally pulling weight heavier than my meet PR.  These were definitely heavy.

247 (BW+20)X4 is rep PR on Chins.  Video is the 2nd weighted set .  BW back-off sets are starting to feel a little easier.

253 (BW+25)X12 is a Rep PR on Dips.  Finally remembered to take some video.  Upper arms are coming more or less parallel with the floor, and that's all I'm really looking for to make sure I'm getting the extra triceps work without aggravating old shoulder problems.

Novice LP. Session 33 (Greyskull Squats)

BW - 227

Bench -
210X5
190X5, 5

Deadlift -
340X3
305X3

Dips - BWX8, 8, 8

Bench went well.  210X5 ties my lifetime PR.  After the slight pec strain last week, I decided to switch to a top set with back-offs.

Deadlift felt a little rougher.  Back was kind of bothering me on all the warm-ups.  Top set felt about as expected, but the back-off set was surprisingly hard compared to last session.  I don't really see any form issues here so I'm not sure what.

Stretched out my shoulders really well before dips, and tried to keep them more locked in and focus on loading the triceps.  Felt good at the time, shoulders aren't giving me too much trouble the next day.

Novice LP. Session 30 (Greyskull Squats)

BW - 224

Press - 135X3, 3, 3

Deadlift -
335X3
300X3

Dips - BWX5, 8, 10

(I know I didn't Squat today.  Title is just so I can scan back through phases easily.)

135 moved better on Press than 132.5.

Deadlifts also felt pretty good.  Forgot to take video.  Back-off sets also felt good.  I focused in hard on every rep on big air, contracting against it, and pulling my chest up before and during the lift.  My low back had been bothering me all day, but didn't give me any trouble on these lifts, and felt pretty good afterwards.

Still a ways off from 3 rep PRs in either lift.

Because I'm not squatting or chinning on Deadlift days, the day felt a little short.  I've always enjoyed doing dips, and want to be good at them.  I tried throwing in a few exploratory sets here to see how they felt.  Started at 5 reps, and laddered up.  Thought I might go for 12 on the 3rd set, but 10 felt about RPE 8, so felt like a good first day out.

Before doing these going forward, I need to be sure to do some of the shoulder warm-ups my PT gave me to help me un-fuck my shoulder back in the day.  No pain, but there's an uncomfortable stretch at the bottom in the old problem area.

For now, I'll keep throwing them in on DL days.  I'll be very conservative, try not to go above RPE 8, and progress 3 sets of BW until all three sets are in the mid-to-high teens. If everything is going well at that point, I'll start mixing in weighted days.

"Going well" will need to be looked at across all upper body exercises.  If Bench or Press stall out, and I move to any higher volume programming, I may need to make an adjustment.  I'm just very mindful that I'm adding in more "fluff" and more pressing volume here.

Texas Method Team Training. Week 11. Volume Day

BW - 223

Squat - 315X5X5

Press - 125X5X5

Deadlift - 250X10X2

Was on my own training today as I couldn't make the team training day.  Would have liked to be with the coach, etc. for my run at 315 5X5, but it is what it is.  And what it is is pretty hard!  It's such a milestone thing to do 3 plates-per-side for 5X5 for me, that I got pretty amped up.  This had me gripping the bar too hard; a habit I've been breaking myself of.  The result was that, by the time I was stepping up for set #3, my shoulders and elbows were screaming.  I ended up taking extra long breaks in between sets to let the pain recede.  Long story short:  I got the 315X5X5, and it was hard, and my elbows really hurt afterward.

The pain in my elbows radiated down into my wrists and hands, and made the Press feel really weak.  This 5X5 was also very difficult today, but I got it as well.

By this time, Deadlifting seemed like a cake-walk and went just fine.

Also, the guy that spotted my last 3 sets of Squats, ended up working up to 700X1.  That was pretty fucking cool to watch.

Texas Method Team Training. Week 3. Volume Day

BW - 226

Squat - 265X5X5

Bench - 185X5X5

Deadlift - 190X10X2

Everything went well.  Squats are still finding the relatively pain free middle-path between the lingering low-back/left hip strain, and last week's fading ab strain.

Bench is getting further dialed in to the following new cues:
1) Get way up on my traps
2) Don't let breathing cause a loss of tightness between reps
3) Keep the elbows fairly tucked for as long as possible to lock-out
That last is much better on my shoulders.

Deadlift is finding the lowest starting hip position where they don't shoot up and knees don't get in the way.

Hybrid Training. Week 3. Light Lower

BW - 229.4

Speed Squats - up to 255X5, 5, 5

Pause Squats -
225X4
245X4
235X4

"Bench" Grip DL - 225X5, 5, 5

Hang-Cleans - 133X3, 3, 3, 3

Hanging Leg Raises - X8, 8, 8

Finally.  Four weeks I've been on this program, and this is the first time I've been able to run this day the way I'm supposed to.  Low back trouble feels 95% recovered now, and isn't bothering my lifting at all.

It was humid as hell in the gym today, so the Speed Squats weren't as "speedy" as I'd have liked.  Also, I try to avoid max acceleration for the last 1/4 of the lift.  I sometimes find that "popping" up at the top bothers my back.

Haven't done Pause Squats in quite a long time, so I wasn't sure where the weight should be.  I Goldilocks'd that shit, and 235 was juuuuust right.

The program suggest Snatch Grip DL, but I've had trouble with deficit DLs aggravating my low back, so I didn't want to go that wide.  I went with my bench grip which is out to the rings.  I've wondered for some time about getting similar effects to deficit deads by just moving the grip out wider.  I started off a little too low on the first couple of reps (I could tell because I was scraping my shins suddenly).  I think I found the sweet spot, and these went pretty well.  My hamstrings and traps are fairly sore today, and the hamstring soreness at least is from these.

The program also calls for jump squats, but I've never felt comfortable with those.  I thought about doing DB or KB jump squats, but I thought I'd try hang-cleans instead.  I've never done these, and it took awhile to find how low to come down so that I could accelerate into the jump.  My left shoulder wasn't loving these, so we'll see.

Hybrid Training. Week 0. Light Upper

BW - 228

Bench - up to 155X5, 5

TUT (3/0/3) CG Bench - 140X6, 6, 6

DB Laterals - 25sX6, 6, 6

BB Curls - up to 65X8, 8

Light and easy as expected.

I did learn on the CG Bench that it's more comfortable for me if I use more of a "medium" grip (one hand-width in from competition grip), and don't tuck my elbows as hard.  My right shoulder is still bothering me a bit from something that happened over vacation.  I went in and tried to do CG bench the way I used to do them, when that was the only way I benched.  And I found that having my hands at "press grip," that is, touching the smooth, and keeping my upper arm parallel to my torso through the movement made the shoulder hurt like hell.  It reminded me a lot of the feeling I got when I injured my shoulder benching in 2014.  Makes me wonder it that technique was really the underlying issue somehow.  Moving out the grip and letting the elbows angle out a bit completely eliminated any discomfort in the injured area.  And the movement just felt more "right" somehow.

Only thing that felt heavy today were the curls.

Hybrid Training. Week 0. Heavy Upper and Intervals

BW - 228.8

Bench -
up to 185X2
then 155X6, 6

Press - up to 110X5, 5

Rows - up to 162.5X3, 3, 3

Chins - BWX5, 5, 5, 4, 4

Intervals - alternated jogging and walking every block from gym to home

Starting to get the feel for the Powerlifting + 5K program from Alex Vida's Hybrid Athlete manual.  I took a nasty fall while on vacation and my shoulder has been bothering me, and so I wasn't sure how this would go.  Between that and having company this weekend, I knew I wouldn't be able to jump fully into the programming, thus "Week 0" of getting acclimated to it as time allows.  Also, I need to read the full manual in depth to understand progression.

Despite the shoulder injury, I had no issues on any of the lifts here.  Everything moved nice and easy.  It's a percentage based program, and I used what I call my "Lifetime" Every Day Max (LEDM) as the basis.  This is a bit different from  Paul Carter's EDM concept where the # is sort of instinctual.  I've always kept track of my lifetime rep maxes from 1-20.  I average those out and take 90% for my LEDM.  For example, on Bench, my best single is 231, and my best set of 20 is 135.  Together with all the other rep records from 1-20, that averages out to a projected max of 225-30, and 90% of that is 205.  So when I need a good starting point for something on bench, I take 205 as my LEDM.

The program calls for 3X10 on pull-ups.  As I've been coming back from the previous shoulder injury that impaired my vertical pulling, 5 reps have been about max, so I just did 5 sets of 4-5 here.

Intervals felt good.  Although it's been since August '15 since I did any running, and my gait felt a bit awkward being out of practice and carrying an extra 20-25 pounds.